Recording device.



J. F. OCONNOR.

RECORDING DEVICE.

APPUCATIONHLED AUG.2U. 1917.

Patented Jan. 7,1919,

3 $HEETS--SHEET NVENT BY%. J ATTOR Y I NNOR.

APP CA ECORDING DEVtCE.

non FILED Aue.20. .1917.

IN V E IOR. m

3. F. U'CONNOR.

RECORDING DEVICEu nrmcmmw FILED AUG-20. 191-1.

mmmm. Jan. 7, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- W I TNI'Z SSES:

rr er ATEN JOHN 1E. OCONNOB, 0F GI-IIGAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 WILLIAMH. MINER, 0F .QCHAZY, NEW.YOBK.

nnoonnrne nnvrcn.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. '7, 1919.

' Application filed august 20, 1917. SerialNo. 187,293.,

recording devices.

Heretofore, the generally accepted method,

of testing the actions of draft gears or shock absorbing mechanismsemployed on railway car and the like has been the so-called drop hammertest. By this method, the shock absorbing mechanism to betested isplaced upon an anvil and a heavy weight or hammer. generally 9,000 lbs,is dropped from different heights onto the shock absorbing mechanism andthe effects thereof noted. In my Patent No. 1,217,984, issued March6,1917 for mean for recordingr ac tions of railway draft gearsl havefully disclosed a recording mechanism for determining the rate ofdeceleration of such a falling body and the actual work performed by theshock absorbing mechanism during the absorption of the blow, as willmore fully appear from reference to said patent.

As is well knowmthe intervals of time duringwhich the blows are absorbedby shock absorbing mechanisms, both in the drop hammer tests and inactual service, are almost infinitesimal, numerous experiments havingdetermined that the interval of time is generallyless than one-tenth ofa second.

In the drop hammer tests, it is obvious that the falling body is asolid, substantially non-yieldable mass. \Vhen, however, the shockabsorbing mechanism is applied to a car and the car is brought to restthrough the intermediary of said shock absorbing mechanism, there is asomewhat different action which takes place and which cannot beaccurately imitated by the drop hammer tests. In a moving car, there areseveral distinctive partsthereof which are decelerated under differentconditions due tothe fact that there is relative movement between saiddistinctive parts during the deceleration perlod. For mstance, it sobrelative to the rigid frame or superstructure of the car during; theact of deceleration.

Similarly, there is relative movement between the car framework and thetrucks, and in addition, there is also relative movement between thewheels and associated axles of the car and the frame members of thetruck. In view of the fact that the rigid framework of the car, theload, the truck elements and the wheels are of difi'erent weights, it isobvious that the forces re quired to decelerate the various componentparts vary according to the mass or Weight of each of theparts and itisthese variable factors which are not accurately recordedin the drophammer tests. y

The object ofmy invention is to provide an arrangement for accuratelyrecording the deceleration of the component parts of a car during thecompression of the shock absorbingmechanism thereon and to therebyobtain an accurate record of the perform ance of the shock absorbingmechanism during actual service conditions.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of two cars with my improvementsarranged inconnectiontherewith. Fig. 2 is atop planview of the structure illustrated inFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view, upon anenlarged scale, illustrating the details of construction of what may betermed the test car and my record ingdevice. Fig. 4 is an end elevationof the so-called test car and corresponds to the section line H of Fig.3. Fig. 5 is a horizontal. sectional view. taken substan tiall; on theline 5-5 of Fig. l. And F 6 is a detailed elevational view of therecording: mechanism proper.

In said drawings, A designates what, for convenience, may betermed thetest car and B a fixed or bumper carby which the movmg testcar A isadapted to be broughtto restyas hereinafter described. Said cars arearranged on the same track which is preferably inclined so that the testcar Amay be made to acquire any desired speed in carrying out the tests,the speed of course depending uponthe grade of the track and thefdistance through which the car A is permitted to accelerate before engagingthe bumper car B.

The bumper car B is provided with a shock absorbing mechanism which isinchandalso to my later Patent No. 1,225,996 for cated "conventionally'by dotted lines most clearly in Fig. 3 and from which extends adummycoupler .10. Secured to the dummy coupler 10 is the recordingmechanism proper, designated generally by the reference G. Saidrecording mechanism G, as shown, is substantially the same as thatdescribed. in my said Patent No. 1,217,98a and briefly described,includes a rotatable drum 11 on which is carried the record sheet, a motor 12, and a stylus ofanysuitable form 13. F bra more completedescription of the re cording mechanism and the method of reading therecord obtained thereby, reference is hereby made to said. Patent No.1,217,981

indicators, issued May 15, 1917.

Thetest car A, as shown, is so designedas toreproduceas nearlyas'possible, the aver age conditions incident to the stopping andstarting of a loadedfreight car. As shown, the test car A comprises an.underframe structure: 14 from which extends the-body 15 and whichcarries .a comparatively small proportion of sand or gravel 16. Mountedwithin the gravel for sand l6 is a large trough-shaped element17 loadedwith sand or gravel 18, and it will be noted that the ends of the member17 are inclinedto the vertical at an angle corresponding to the naturalslope of the sand or gravel employed so that, wh'en the moving car issuddenly brought to rest, the action of the member 17 carrying the load18 will tend to shift as an entirety as it would .if' the car wereloaded in actual practice with similar material. The proportion, of theload carried by the member 17 represents the shiftingportion ofassociated with the truck bolsters 20 are the usual truck frame members21. Cooperating with the truck frames 21 are the usual sets of axles 22and the car wheels 23, together with the journal boxes 24. ,The carwill'also be provided with the usual brake 'mechanismandparts accessoryto the under frame and truck frames.

The weightof the-wheels, axles and journal boxes, which may beconsidered as movable and acting as aunit. will approximate 7,500 lbs.and the weight of the truck frames, brake rigging and accessoriesthereto will approximate 5,000 lbs, and in carrymg out my invention,the, weight of the frame superstructure with the load. portion 16 Willapproximate 25,000 lbs, and the main or shiftable portion of the load 18will approximate 100,000 lbs. The foregoing makes a grand total of137,500 lbs.

The car A is provided with a shock absorbing mechanism S mounted in theusual manner and indicated conventionally by the dotted lines in Fig. 3.Said shock absorbing mechanism S is adapted to be compressedbetweenfollowers in the usual manner when themoving car is brought to. restand, for actuating the shock absorbing mechanism, another dummy coupler25 is provided, the samebeing adapted to cooperate' with the dummycoupler 10, as will be obvious.

In order to reduce the elfect of the various component parts of the carto a common factor for actuating the recording mechanism C, I employ thefollowing means: Secured to the end of the car A adjacent the dummycoupler 25 is a bracket 26 to which is pivotally connected a lever 27.The lever 27 at its upper end is in turn pivotally connectcd toa'lin'k28 which extends througha tube 29 inthe'section 16 of the load in. orderto permit movementofsaid link 28. At its inner end, the link 28 isrigidlyfconnect ed tothe member 17 which carries the shift,- able load18. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, it Willbe seen that a rod 30 is employedwhich extends from the truck'bolster and is pivots ally connected to theupper end of a rcla tively short link'3l. From the adjacent car axleextends a r0d32 which is pivotally 0011-. nected to the lower endofsaidlink At its inner end, the rod 32'is provided with a suitableringportion which encircles the axle. The link 31 intermediate its ends,and at a distance three-fifths of its length fromthe upper pivotalconnection with the rod 30,.is connected to the lower end of a. bar 33.At its upper end, the bar 33 is pivotally connected toa short link 34:which in turn is pivotally connected to the lever 27. as indicated at35, the pivotal connection 35 being at such a point that the portion ofthe lever 27 thereabove is four times the length of the portiontherebelow. To prevent the link 31. bar 33 and rods 30 and 32 from beingdi placed laterally, a bracket 36 is extended downwardly from the bufferblock 37 of the car, which bracket 36 has a slot 38 in its lower endwithin which freely works back and forth a stud orpin 39 carried by thebar -33. As most clearly shown in Fig. 5; the

bar 33 is provided with a laterally extended flange 40 to actuate thestylus 13 of the recording mechanism C.

Said flange 10 is located in the same horizontal plane as the center ofmass of all the component parts of the car considered as a unit andfurther, is so positioned with the face of the dummy coupler 25, thatwhen the two dummycouplers 10 and 25 engage,

the flange iOwill engagethe stylus 13 and move the same over therecording drum, as will be understood. a r a r In making a test, the carA is permitted. to acquire any desired speed and to be brought to restby impact against the stationary bumper car B. When the impact takesplace, that is, when the dummy eouplers l0 and engage', it is obviousthat the stylus 13 will be actuated due to the fact that there isthereafter no relative movement between the recording drum 11 and thedummy coupler 25 but there is relative movement between-said drum andall of the parts of the car A with the exception of said dummy couplerInother words, assuming that the shock absorbing mechanism S is onewhich is provided with a three inch movement, that is,@th1e mechanismcan be compressed for a distance of three inches, it is obvious that thecar framework, load trucks,

etc., considered as an entirety, can move to ward the dummy coupler 25 adistance of three inches, and it is during this relative movementbetween the dummy coupler 25 and the car that the deceleration of thelatter occurs and the work of the gear is performed. I

The ratio of the arms or levers 27 with respect to the point 35 being4:1 and the ratio of the weights or masses of the shiftable load 18 andthe car underframe superstructure 14,15 and 16 being 4:1, it is apparentthat the effect produced by said two component parts of the car inmoving the links 34 will be reduced to a common result. Or,

stated in another manner, the weight of the shiftable load 18 times thedistance through which it moves the link 34: will equal the weight ofthe car underframe, superstructure and load portions 16 times thedistance through which they move the link 34. Similarly, with the link31 proportioned 3:2, as hereinbefore described and the weights of thewheels, axles and journal boxes considered as a unit and of the truckframe, bearings and accessories, considered as a unit. being as 3:2, itis obvious the effects produced by said component parts of the car willbe reduced to a common factor at the lower end of the bar 33. The combined weight of the wheels,. axles, truck frames, boxes, bearings,brakes and accesseries, etc., which determines the movement of the lowerend of the bar 33, totals 12,500 lbs, which is one-tenth of the combinedweight of the car frame, superstructure and load which totals 125,000lbs. Therefore, the distance from the flange or arm 40 of the bar 33 tothe lower end of the bar 33 is made 10 times the distance between saidflange or arm 40 and the pivotal connection of the upper end of the bar33 with the link 34. In this manner, the effect of all the componentparts of the car is reduced to a singleforce applied to the stylus 13and consequently the actual kinetic shocks of the component parts of aloaded car, as absorbed by the shock absorbing mechanism S, areaccurately transferred to the recording device 0. p i

Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider thepreferred manner of carrying out my invention, it obvious that variouschanges and modifications may be made in the details of construc-' tionwithout departingfrom the spirit of the invention and I contemplate allchanges, modifications and arrangements that come within the terms ofthe claims appended hereto. i 1

Iclaim:

1 In an arrangement for recording the deceleration, of a mass composedof a plurality of relatively movable portions, the combination with arecording deviceproper including a, record sheet anda stylus; of means,interposed between and operatively associated with said recordingdevices and said mass portions, for causing relative movement betweensaid stylus and sheet, said means including a system of compensatingelements arrangedto produce a movement of one of them proportional tothe combined effective movements of all por tions of the mass.

2. In a device ofthe character described, the combination with a masscomposed of a plurality of portions of diiierent characteristics, theaggregate action of which under shocks determine the action of the massas an entirety; of recording means proper; and means, including aplurality of links and levers of different arm ratios, associated withsaid mass for actuating said recording means and proportionallyindicating the eifects of said diflerent portions of the mass.

3. In an arrangement for determining the deceleration of a movable carby a shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with a car having ashock absorbing mechanism thereon; of a recording device; and means,including an element for directly engaging said recording devices,.carried by said car, and connected to the component parts thereof, foractuating said recording device during the compression of said shockabsorbing mechanism, said means being so arranged that the result andeiiect of the product of the weight and distance traveled by eachcomponent part of the car during deceleration are ultimately transmittedto the recording device through said elements and equalized.

nism'. during'the act of deceleration; "and means interposed betweensaid member and the different component parts of the car and its loadfor moving said member relatively tofione element of the. shockabsorbing mechanism inversely proportional to the Weight oft eachof'sa'id component parts.

In deviceof the characterdescribed, the combination with axcarf havingashiftabIe' load of a shock absorbing mechanis mounted on said car;-said shock absorbing mechanism including aooupler"; of a bar adapted toactuate the recording mechanism properlgand. connections between saidbarand-the component-parts of the car and load for actuating said bar inaccordance with the Weights of the component partsof the eanduringactuation of the'sho'ck absorbing mechanism in decelerating thecar.-

flqilea this patent may-be obtained for 6. In a: device of the characterdescribed, the combination with a car having a shock absorbing mechanismmounted thereon, said mechanism including a coupler for actuating themechanism; of an element, adapted to actuate a recordingmechanism; and asystem of links and leversinterposed between said element and thecomponent parts of the car so {arranged that, the product of the Weightof each component pa'rt times meetfeetive distance through which itmoves said element is equal to the product of the weight of anyotheroomponent part times the dis ta-nce through which the latteractuates said element.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 4 day of Aug, 1917.

" JOHN F. OGONNOR;

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of 2mm; Washing9n,1).c.: I"

